MSiA ZGMF-601R GuAIZ-R

Height: 10cm to top of head, 12cm to top of crest.

Articulation: 28 total points of articulation: Ball jointed neck; 7 points in each arm- double jointed shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, double jointed elbow, forearm swivel, ball joint wrist; ball-jointed waist; 6 points in each leg - ball jointed hip, triple-jointed knee, double-jointed ankle.

Accessories: Hip Armor with MMI-M20S "Pollux IX" Railgun x2, MA-M21G Beam Rifle, MA-MV05 Composite Shield with removeable Beam Saber blade, Extra Hands x4.

Colors: Molded dark green, medium gray, light green-gray, clear pink, and white. Painted dark green, white, black, light green-gray, yellow, and pink(monoeye).

Release Data: Released February 10th, 2005 in Japan at a price of ¥1500. This item is no longer in production as of this review (April 25th, 2005).

Gallery: 7 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

I like mass-production Mobile Suits. I rarely end up owning more than one of any given figure, mass-produced or not, but I like the idea of mass-produced MS. It's said to be one of the things that sets Gundam apart from the series that came before it, and it's probably the best way to show that Gundam nearly always treats its Mobile Suits as equipment, not characters.

The GuAIZ-R is an updated Destiny version of the last ZAFT mass-production suit to appear in Gundam SEED. This new GuAIZ has dropped the pods mounted on the backpack and gained a pair of hip-mounted railguns similar to those seen on the Freedom Gundam, as well as a new rifle and shield. Is it an improvement over the original GuAIZ? Well, in terms of in-show performance, probably so, but otherwise it's entirely a matter of taste.

The Head

The head is sculpted nicely and strikes me as being halfway between a Gundam and a GINN in design. The head is somewhat small, not counting the crest, and has 360 degrees of swivel in addition to a a great range of tilt both front-to-back and side-to-side. The large crest seems to be at a steeper angle than I thought it would be- if you tilt the head all the way forward it points almost straight up.

The Arms

Standard Destiny articulation- still just about the best there is. The shoulders have a fair range, though they can't quite be raised perpendicular to the body. That's been pretty standard for a while now, so I can't really complain. The shoulder swivel is fair, and the shoulder holds a position pretty well. The elbows allow the arms to effectively double over. The feature that sets the GuAIZ-R apart is the post-elbow swivel which allows you to position the shield at any angle you like. This has been seen before on occasion, on the likes of the Jegan (if you lucked out and got the right one, anyway), and it's always a nice addition. The wrists seem plenty strong, and hold their hands well in general.

The Torso

The rather slender torso is nicely sculpted. Well, slender in the front- the large backpack is molded as part of the torso, which greatly adds to the overall bulk. None of the thrusters are moveable on the backpack, not even the two largest ones which look as though they ought to be. There's a round raised piece with a bar running through it on each side of the backpack- it's hard for me to describe, but what it looks like, basically, is a plug inserted where the original GuAIZ would have attached its additional thrusters. Which is exactly what it is, I'm guessing.

Despite this bulk, the waist manages to have a range of roughly 180 degrees- the entire front arc, which is still far more than some older figures have. The front skirt armor, such as it is, barely gets in the way of the legs, and then only when you move them straight forward, due to the scalloped shape. The side plates are ball-jointed and also don't interfere with posing much if at all- I'll cover the railguns under "Accessories," since the side skirt plates were packaged separately. The rear skirt is longer, but since it's angled outward it doesn't get anywhere near the legs either. Not as good as the ZAFT ZAKUs, but a good skirt nonetheless.

The Legs and Feet

Nothing fancy, but some good articulation. The hips have a good range of side-to-side movement- a few degrees more on each side and it could do a split. The knees are the Destiny-standard triple-joint, and have the maximum possible range, just like the elbows. The double ball-jointed ankles allow for a good range, though the unique shape of the lower legs does restrict sideways movement the slightest bit. The ankles feel exceptionally loose, but so far I haven't had any problems with making the GuAIZ-R stand. Unlike the GINNs and ZAKUs, the thrusters in the backs of the legs are completely immobile- I'm not sure why that is, except that the ankle is a bit narrower here.

Paint and Decoration

The color scheme is fairly nice, with a light green-gray serving as a nice complement to both the darker green and white areas. There are a couple spots, most notably the backpack, which have been painted dark green to try and match the molded color of the forearms and torso. As always, it doesn't quite work, but unless you're examining the figure very closely it won't matter much. Overall, the paint is clean, with minimal bleed and other sloppiness. With one unfortunate exception: the figure's face. The black surrounding the monoeye and the white of the faceplate each sort of slop into the other, but as always, I'm gonna assume this is unique to my figure.

Articulation gets 9/10

Sculpt and Deco get 8/10

Accessories

-Hip Armor with MMI-M20S "Pollux IX" Railguns

Since these are packed as an accessory, I thought I'd cover them in detail here. As I mentioned above, the railguns don't obstruct leg movement when folded, which is a good start. When deployed, they will get into an argument with the GuAIZ-R's backpack if straightened completely. You can lean the torso forward to help offset this, but if you want them to be parallel when in use, it's best to leave the rear portion slightly angled.

-MA-M21G Beam Rifle

This should be the same model rifle that will be included with the original GuAIZ later this year. It's an average-looking Beam Rifle, and a particularly large one, so of course it has a single handgrip. However, the GuAIZ-R doesn't have any trouble handling it- the arm and wrist are strong enough to hold it out from the body with little to no difficulty. The only thing that worries me is the narrow point where the barrel connects to the body of the gun- it is so soft that it's quite flexible, and I'm concerned with the possibility of future warping or breaking.

-MA-MV05 Composite Shield with removeable Beam Saber blade

The best of the accessories by far, the shield attaches to either forearm firmly via a ball-jointed peg, and a swiveling handgrip fits into the hand securely. Coupled with the nifty forearm swivel, you can put it in any position you like. A good shield that will stay on the arm.

Also, while the GuAIZ-R lacks independent Beam Sabers of any kind, there's a Beam Saber emitter in end of the shield. The blade supplied is broader and flatter than most Saber blades, and features some nice jagged-looking molding that puts me in mind of the Star Wars figures I've been reviewing lately. It's made of the newer, firmer plastic, and fits into the emitter very, very securely. It's a nice feature, and well-executed.

-Extra Hands

The standard MSiA six- two fists, two for rifles, and two more general open hands which can only be used for the shield here. They look pretty good and hold on the appropriate wrists well enough. Special note has to be made of the Rifle hands as well, which not only fit the Rifle's handgrip nicely, but snugly- the gun won't rattle around in the hand as with many other MSiA.

On the left arm, it doesn't take a lot of pressure to pop off the open hand, but the only thing it's going to be holding is the shield handgrip, which isn't a problem since the forearm supports the shield's weight.

Accessories get 7/10

Closing Remarks:

The GuAIZ-R is a decent figure. It's technically fairly well-executed, and the few accessories it comes with are nice. Despite all that, I'm fairly indifferent to it- part of the reason for that, I think, is that it's underequipped for a ¥1500 figure, and I paid around $18 for it shipped. The inclusion of hip armor as an "Accessory" really drives this home- I think of accessories being a part that is optional, and hip armor isn't optional. There's also a certain "Consolation Prize" quality to the figure, as I would have preferred to get a standard GuAIZ first, and I imagine I'm not the only one.

Still, if you like the GuAIZ-R in particular, the only real thing I can see as being wrong with it is the railguns' possibly interfering with the backpack. I'd have to call it an Excellent figure on a technical basis, though dollar value and the other factors I mentioned reduce that to Very Good on a personal level.

-RAC 04/05/2005